A senior official at Amnesty International quit the human rights group this month after raising an alarm over its ties to a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and what she describes as his pro-jihad group.

Gita Sahgal, who headed the gender unit at Amnesty's office in London, said she was especially worried about Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners' support for "jihad in self-defense" and radicals such as Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Yemeni cleric who is suspected of having ties to al Qaeda.

The Obama administration has taken the unusual step of approving the targeted killing of Mr. al-Awlaki.